The news-herald. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1909-1911, September 30, 1909, Image 7

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    I. '"'Tr1"" .v
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The New 3Broom
Ry Caroline Lockhart
if
AMEQBD(CR!I FAIMDDt
t
.yW 70i0 AJiJ) fllSJ GLORIA,
W
E LEARN from the scientists
of tho census bureau and
others who have mads a
study of that Interesting but
"rratlc bird, the stork, that
Its favorite habitat la In tha
. of tho poor rather than In the
palaces of tho rich, and that in no
p.- k r.
9 J
COPYRK1T BY lrrtAATioAl KtCAZlflt CQflPANY
ltefore they were born I took every care of
my own health and lived as much as pos
sible In the open air. Hefore Edith w;u
born I spent months on our yacht cruising
around, as It was summer, lti fact, she was
born at sea. Then I have nursed my babies
myself, except twice when Illness rendered
It Impossible for me to do so. I do not be
lieve In sterilized milk nor patent ' baby
foods. A baby is like a Utile puppy. If you
want It to grow line and strong and fat, you
must give it the right start, and nothing has
yet been discovered that takes the place of
the food that nature intended for n child.
"In raising my children my plan has been
to bring them up to bo slmn'.e and
hardy. Not one of my children ha3
GrORGFtJ- GOULD JR.
o.tior place in tho world is it more sel
dom seen than along Fifth avenue.
Ulie homo of Mr. George J. Gould,
however, is an exception to this rule.
.Seven times the domestic bird has vis-,
Med and blessed that abode, each tlnu,
leaving a baby so strong and lusty, so
big and beautiful, that it fully justifled
tha fond parents' declaration that it
was tho finest child ever born. Hot
ter still, the Gould children have
grown up to be almost perfect speci
mens of physical health, and they are
o intelligent and so natural and unaf
fected in character that it seems
worth while to tell how this result
Las been accomplished, and how a
wise father and mother have enabled
their children to lead the simple life
In the midst of millions and a luxury
that makes that of the fabled Sybar
ites look like a makeshift with which
one could get along if one had to.
When you want to dive to the heart of a mys
tery the French shrug their shoulders and spread
out their hands, and say: "Cherchez la femme."
If you desire to find the key to any family situa
tion and know why the children of the household
Bra what they are virile or weakly, sturdy lit
tle men and women or flabby Jellyfish, potential
citizens of worth or mere cumberers of the
ground you must act as if tho old French adage
read: "Cherchez la mere."
It is the mother that counts where children are
concerned, and so I sought out Mrs. George J.
Oould, and asked her for her recipe for bringing
p a family. I found her in their magnificent
suite of apartments at the Plaza hotel, surround
ed, like Cornelia, by her jewels. There was her
daughter Marjorie, a lovely, slim slip of a girl,
one of the debutantes and belle's of the season,
come in to tell of the delights of the ball of the
night btfore. There was Edith, a sturdy little
miss of seven, hanging upon her mother's shoul
der. There was George, a shy lad of 12, poking
Ills head In between the portieres from time to
lime. Tho other children were absent, and a mo
tor was being sent to her scool for Vivian, and
nnother to Columbia university for Klngdon and
Jay, for the day was bitter cold and snowy. Iiaby
Gloria, who is only two and a half years old, was
spending the winter at Georgian Court with her
grandmother, and trinkets were being got ready
to send to her there.
1 Tho room Itself was a very temple of mother
hood, for its empire tone had been ruthlessly sac
rificed before family affection and love of things
homelike, and everywhere on walls and mantles
and tables there were photographs of tho chil
drenJay In tennis flannels when ho won the
championship of the world, Klngdon with his first
mustache, marvelously like a young edition of
!lhe kaiser, Marjorie in her debutante gown, and
taby pictures innumerable
In the midst of all this cvldenco of a mother's
brooding love Bat Mrs. Gould, a radiant figure in
trailing pale-blue silk, ns young looking almost as
her own daughter, and I thought that if I were nn
'artist I should like to paint her as a triumphant
modern Madonna, a woman to whom motherhood
has brought nothing but joy, and whose children
are her crown of happiness. She has had all that
women crave, has this woman who is a darling
'of the gods. First she had success and fame,
I which she won by her own genius; then she was
'given love and marriage and enormous wealth
and high social position. She has beauty that is
itlll undluimed, but tho best that llfo has given
Iher Is her children, and it is good to hear her
' say so.
"My acquaintances have sometimes pitied me,"
rFhe Bald with a smile, "because I have hud so
many babies, but I have not one child too many.
I I have never had a child that 1 did not want, or
that has not found a warm welcome waiting for
.lit. 1 think that is ono reason why my children
have all been so strong una nave nau mien so
rcno dispositions.
"1 have felt the responsibilities of motherhood.
too, and have tried to give my children ns rood a
start as possible by giving them sound bodies.
few ww
H&wm mi v&wM Ah :tm rP A
c fv&tf tA '&wy COULD
fi! V?J fSiiS diversion for our children to en-
n yZ "C B hJrlw courage them in athletic sports.
VO-v- Rl mM 1.'r? A We have a polo-ground, and a
VJ ftlXf.iCf AJII HdlnK-rinK, and tennis and
ttf VfiVf U ti?h ;VJ;MI lh-cour.. and the children
IV I Mill "rive a great deal. The boys
r,H IfefSl'feS wore particularly interested in
Ml W.yC? ffilVir !f ll rolo. Klngdon, my oldest
ffl I C WfCtltml . 15 was considered one of
1; . lTP?fUVl th beat Polo-Player, in tho
Rp4 ii- J y , co"ntryi Jlty aB also flua
Mil
3T i rnri-X v&W' -
TH W&S DITH AND GLORIA
ever had on a stitch of flannel, not even a
flannel petticoat. They have warm wraps
when they go out of doors, but In the house
they wear little socks and low-necked and
short-sleeved cotton or woolen clothes.
They live alno on the simplest and plainest
food cereals and eggs, tender steaks and
good roast moat, with plenty of vegetables
and fruit, and the simplest sort of dessert
when they have any at all. No pies and
pastry, and no nibbling at candy all day for
them. 1 also put great stress on absolute
regularity in eating, and no matter who
else waits, the children have their meals
exactly on the stroke of the clock.
"We are a very domestic family, and the
children have their breakfast and lunch,
which is really their dinner, with Mr. Gould
and myself, but until they are 1C years old
they have their supper at a little after six
o'clock, and only have something very light
to eat. They never come to dinner, unless
upon their birthdays it is permitted as a
great treat. Why, Marjorie never came to
dinner regularly until last year, and she is
still so attached to the nursery tea that
when we are down at Georgian Court she
often eats with the childrfn by preference.
"Of course I have so many other duties that it
is not possible for nie to be always with my ba
bies, and so I kept a trained nurse for each one
until he or she was two and a half years old, and
past the teething time; but there is never a night,
even to this day, that I do not go Into each room
tho last thing before going to bed, and tuck tha
covers down with my own hands, good and tight
around each child. And I have nursed every ono
of my children with my own hands when they
were Elck. I had trained nurses, of course, but
I sat up with the sick child, too. When Marjorio
had that fearful spell of scarlet fever in Franco
the summer before last, and when it seemed ut
terly Impossible for her to recover, her father
and 1 never left her day or night for weeks. The
doctors said that it was the most malignant case
they ever saw, and that nothing but her marvel
ous strength pulled her through. They said that
if the bad been a French girl sho certainly would
have died.
"I believe that the chief thing about raising
children up to bo well and strong is to bring them
up in tho country where they can have plenty of
fresh air and room for exercise, and freedom. It
was for tho benefit of our children that we went
down to Lakewood and built Georgian Court. The
second floor of tho house is devised especially for
tho children, and the sunniest room in It is for
tho baby and the next sunniest for tho ex-baby;
and we's always had great times and ceremonies
when the reigning monarch bnd to glvo way for
a new k'.r.g or queen of the nursery and havo his
or her little belongings packed up and moved on.
"Everything has been sacrificed lor the good of
the children. For ten years wo lived at Georgian
Court only In the winter, and took the babies
every summer up to the quietest and dullest llttlo
place in the world In the Catsklllu, ten mile3 from
unywhero.
"At Georgian Court we provided every sort of
Mr u
Jlfli GOULD AtiO THE tflSttS EDiTH AW GLORIA
player, but after Klngdon went to Columbia the
game wus somcwhnt broken up; so as there was
a lino professional tennis-player at Lakewood ho
took up court tennis instead. It is a game that re
quires unusunl strength and quickness of motion,
but he soon became so expert nt it that when he
was 17 he won the American championship, nnd
when he was 18 ho carried off the English cham
pionship, which is, of course, the championship of
the world.
"Neither Mr. Gould nor myself Is an advocate of
boarding-schools. Wo believe that tho very best
associations that children can have during the
formative years of their lives are homo associa
tions, and that no guardianship is equal to the
loving watchfulness of a father and mother. There
fore we have kept our children right In tho homo
nest, and have had thciu educated by tutors and
governesses .
"In educating tho children we have tried to do
velop each one along tho lino of his or her own
natural bent. For Instance, Marjorie adores read
ing, particular poetry and romance. She is a good
musician and, as I said, speaks four languages; but
she does not care for what you might call tha
drudgery of study, nnd I have not nfllleted her with
it. Hut Vivian has a profound mind. Sho loves to
study and to delve Into deep subjects.
"I niu very proud of my two big boys. They nro
clever, and tlnw are strong, manly boys, nnd best
of all, In a mother's eyes, they are good boys.
Neither of them has ever caused mo a moment's
uneasiness or a single heart-pang. Klngdon Is 21
nnd Jay Is li'i, and neither of them smokes or has
ever tasted liquor. Not that I am a prohibitionist
nt all, or have ever tiled especially to keep such
things away front them, but they Just have no de
sire for stimulants. And that. I tuKe It, is about
the best Indication of their health nnd strength, ns
well as a vindication of my method of raising chil
dren, for after nil, It's tho healthy body that gives
a healthy mlul and healthy impulses, isn't It?"
U'iipyniilit, ty J. Li. lJiiim:uit Co.)
Mrs. Davis, with hntr uncombed and
sleeves of her mother ImMmrd rolled
up to tho elbow, opened the front door
and sniffed the morning air of the
tenement district. She looked up nnd
down tho block to see who were out
ahead of her. Mrs. Kate Farrell was
sitting on her front stoop with her
tongue wagging nnd her nrms akimbo,
while Mrs. Dora O'Hellly nnd Mrs.
Sarah MacAvoy leaned on the brooms,
with which they niado a pretense of
sweeping the pavement, and listened
eagerly to what Mrs. Farrell was say
ing. They were discussing the rumor
that Mrs. Davis was two months back
with her rent.
"And her old man drawin' pay reg
ular from the shipyards," said Mrs.
MacAvoy.
"Good mornln', Mis' Davis. We was
just sayln' how nleo 'twas that yer
husband has a stiddy Job." she added,
as Mrs. Davis approached.
"1 knew yees was gabblln' about
somebody," remarked Mrs. Davis,
looking from one to the other suspi
ciously. Hut sho could not long har
bor dark thoughts, uh she bad news to
tell.
"The sign t'rent Is took off mo
house," she announced.
"Why, so 'tis! Who's movln' in?"
came in a chorus.
Mrs. Skinner, who was coming
towards tho group from the rear of
No. 911, pricked up her ears and
broke Into a trot.
"I ain't heard. Hut If It ain't nobody
I take a likln' to" and Mrs. Davis
paused ominously.
It was not necessary to complete
the sentence, ns the neighborhood
knew that no family bad ever been
-wJir -A El
In that Iiouro, with never a stick of
plush furniture passln' tho door! Thu
poorness of yees makes me blush for
tho name of tho neighborhood."'
screamed Mrs. Davis tauntingly.
"Tho little there Is was come by
honest, which, from the looks of yees.'
couldn't be said o' yer own. If I'd
seen ye first, I wouldn't 'a' took tin'
house." was the quick retort.
"An better 'twould be for the land
lord to let bis house stand vacant than
to fill It with lly be-nlghts." cried Mrs.
Davis, accepting the gage of battle. ,
"Yer a garrottln' harpy," scheeched
the newcomer, trembling with excite
ment. "Oli, she called me out o' me name."
yelled Mrs. Davis. She grabbed her
broom in rage.
"Sho called her out o her name,",
came In tones of horror from the row
along the fence. '
As Mrs. Davis dashed Into the ynrd
sho was met half-way by tho new
comer. I lot li her hnnds also gripped
a broom-handle. She was fulli of
light and there was no sign of fear
In the glittering little eyes that .
watched every move of her opponent.
Mrs. Davis brought her broom well
back of her head In n full-arm swing,'
aR if sho were teeing off on the golf
links, but the newcomer dodged.' Mrs.'
Davis spun like a top with the Impe
tus of her ow n blow, llefore she could
recover herself she got a crack on tho
back of her head that mndn her see
stars. A second blow landed on her
broad bnck and knocked her breath
less. The wiry little woman whom
she had scorned as nn antagonist'
dashed around her llko a humming
bird, Jabbing here and there, varying
the attack occasionally by a smash
on Mrs. Davis' head that would bava
caved In an ordinary skull.
As she prodded and thumped she
let out triumphant shrieks. "Oh, you
would, would ye? No plush furniture,
havo I! I'm a Hy be-nlght, am I? Take
that nnd that and that!"
Mrs. DavlB was routed. She turned
her broad back to the enemy and ran
for her wood-shed door.
"Give It to her! Give her another!"'
came from the spectators over the
fence, who saw their own insults
avenged and, like all man and woman
kind, were eager to join forces with
the victor. The newcomer's broom
sailed through tho woodshed door
after Mrs. Davis' retreating figure. ..
"Git up a pertltlon, sayln' she's a
common scold an' a nuisance. We'll
sign It," urged tho row by the fence.
"I kin take care o myself without
a pertltlon," said the newcomer with
dignity as she smoothed her rum?
pled hair. "And I'll thank yees'ter
turn yer faces the other way, for they
hurt mo eyes."
After which she fell to washing
windows and her house was the only
tenement in tho block in which a
stroke of work was done that day.
Made Her See Start.
able to stay more than their allotted
three months In the little house nt
tho rear of the one occupied by Mrs.
Davis. She was fat, pugnacious and
had a flow of vituperative language
that had made her tho bully of tho
block. She was hated and feared, but
no one ever opposed her more than
once. It was reported that Bho
thrashed Davis when the evenings
were dull and time hung heavy on
her hands.
"There's a mnvin'-wagon eomln' up
the street," said Mrs. Skinner, whose
eyes were as good as her ears. Tho
group rushed to the curbstone.
"It's cnmln' on this block, and there
she is, settin' on the sent with the
driver. Too stingy to pay car-fare, I
suppose," said Mrs. MacAvoy.
"She ain't much to look at. No
bigger'n a pint," sniffed Mrs. Skinner.
"One of them putty-faced women with
no heart In 'em. Glvo me a woman
with spunk, says I."
"I'll tako no back talk from the
likes o' her," announced Mrs. Dnvis,
gripping her broom as if she already
saw herself routing this new entmy.
"Yees all come In me back yard,"
said Mrs. Dora O'Reilly cordially, "and
bo lookin' over me fence. Yees kin
see what kind o' furniture goes in."
I!y the time the wagon backed up
to the curbstone they were stationed
nt excellent points of observation,
while Mrs. Davis stood In her wood
shed door. The newcomer's Hps came
together In a thin, straight line when
she saw the heads on the other side
of the fence.
"Will yees look at that old scratched
burrer and them pine chairs?" whis
pered Mrs. Kate Farrell, who owned
Ha bureau.
"And them waxed flowers Is way
out o' date," giggled Mrs. Skinner.
The newcomer looked cut with blaz
ing eyes and slammed her door.
"Ain't she the spiteful thing?" called
Mrs. Davis. "Katie, love," as Katie
came Into the yard. "Just take a look
into the winder and see what she's
doln'."
As Katie stood on tiptoe the door
flew open and a bucket or water
caught her fill In the face.
"I'll thank yees to keep yer tykes
t' home, an' not be spyin' on yer bet
ters," cried a iiliiiil void; f'niii the
iloiirwny.
".'.u' little eiiousli there Is to r.ea
How His Constituents Feel.
Representative Willlnm S. Hennet
of Now York, Is rapidly learning Just
where he stands with his constituents.
For the purpose of acquiring that
knowledge Mr. Hennet recently had
printed a letter which he sent to the
60,000 citizens in his district. The
letter says:
"The Sixty-first congress, to which
I have been elected, as your represen
tative from the Seventeenth congrs
slonal district, has begun its first ses
sion. You doubtless will be Interest
ed In measures which come before
congress, and I shall always be glad
to hear from you concerning them.
If there is any way in which, as your
representative, I can be of service
to you pleaRe consider me at your
command at any time."
The letter brought forth hundreds
of responses, asking the representa
tive to do all sorts of impossible
things In the way of national legis
lation. There was one letter, how
ever, which was safe and sane. The
writer used the same sheet of paper
as that on which Mr. Hennet commu
nicated with him,1 and down In the
corner he wrote:
"Come home. Hring all tho other
M. C.'s with you."
Aisle of the Car in a Wreck.
A veteran railroad man gave a piece
of valuable advice not long ago.
"If you ever get into a wreck," he
said, "and have time to follow out this
suggestion remember this: Always
stand In the aisle. Most of the In
juries that ure suffered occur because
the victim is crushed between tho
seats. If you are In the alslo you
may be thrown forward and bruised a
little, but there Is much less chanco
of receiving serious hurts. It Isn't al
ways possible to get out of your seat
before the crash comes, but if it Is
tollow that advice."
New Etiquette in Japan.
Japan Is advancing by leaps and
bounds. The latest thing Is a class in
courtship" for girls. This has been
made a part of the curriculum in all
of the secondary schools for girls.
The almond c yed maidens are taught
that should they bo "so unfortunnto
t . . f-i 1 1 f ti 1 it'll hi'f, YL 1uwnti isw
J tit III lllll ! i" V ii (.willing
i engaged." they must conceal the fact,
and above all remember that women
nuut not propose. Also they are
warned that w ll-bred girls do not ex;
tit.iil.L'I'lllJiu ti'IMi III. Ih m.I
i in iif-,' ii.mh i,iii'iiu .1 nn uiui au
miiv:s.